Calabar bean

American  

noun

1. the violently poisonous seed of an African climbing plant, Physostigma venenosum, of the legume family, the active principle of which is physostigmine.

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Calabar bean British  

/ ˈkæləˌbɑː, ˌkæləˈbɑː /

noun

1. the dark brown very poisonous seed of a leguminous woody climbing plant, Physostigma venenosum of tropical Africa, used as a source of the drug physostigmine

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Etymology

Origin of Calabar bean

1875–80; named after Calabar, Nigeria

Example Sentences

First, there were small amounts of the Calabar bean - sometimes known as the Doomsday or ordeal plant, traditionally used in witchcraft ceremonies in West Africa.

From BBC • Sep. 20, 2021

The final version of today’s Google Doodle for the U.S. shows the chemical structure of cortisone coming from an intermediate in soybean together with physostigmine from the West African Calabar bean.

From Forbes • Apr. 11, 2014

Among the Calabar tribes the ordeal drink is of two kinds: one made from the Calabar bean, the other, the great ju-ju drink Mbiam, which is used also in taking oaths.

From Travels in West Africa by Kingsley, Mary H.

If, therefore, Calabar bean benefits that disease, it cannot do so in the manner suggested by the author.

From A System of Practical Medicine by American Authors, Vol. I Volume 1: Pathology and General Diseases by Various

Bean, bēn, n. the name of several kinds of leguminous plants and their seeds: applied also to the seeds of some other plants, from their bean-like form, as the Calabar bean, &c.—ns.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 1 of 4: A-D) by Various